Fairytale Nightmare
by blackwitchkarma
Summary: On a case SPR find themselves plunged into a fairytale dreamland where they play roles of some well known characters but many of these tales have been twisted and only one can solve this case and save everyone from the final gruesome death
1. Chapter 1

**Whew I tried to hold off posting this story for the last week but it was too much. Yikes, I really do like the whole idea for this story and I hope you guys enjoy. Dedicated to my dear friends at school and to Hana who listened to this idea in the first place and helped. **

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**Chapter 1**

_Sandman come to me tonight,_

_Comfort me till morning light,_

_As darkness falls and shadows loom,_

_I bid you welcome to my room,_

_Rest your bones beside my head,_

_Lay your hands upon my head,_

_Cast your spell of slumber deep,_

_And stay beside me as I sleep,_

_If I should die before I wake,_

_I grant you my soul to take,_

_My soul to take…_

_My soul to take…_

_My soul to take…_

_(Nursery Rhyme- Nox Arcana)_

"Mai wake up!" Mai felt herself being roughly shaken out of her dreams by a mean person.

"Don't wanna wake up," she muttered sleepily, snuggling further into the comforts of her pillow with a sigh. It had been such a good dream too! Not like the nightmares she would normally see that scared her witless and made her unable to fall asleep easily for weeks afterwards. Only no one else knew that as they'd probably try to stop her coming on cases if they had such bad affects on her.

"Mai!" the voice was firmer this time and she wearily opened her eyes. At first everything she saw was blurry until she finally focused on her surroundings. Without realising it, while she had been asleep she had ended up using Naru's leg as a pillow and unconsciously tightened her grip on his trousers, making it impossible to get her off him.

Face burning red, she sat up quickly and avoided making eye contact with him while glaring at the rest of her friends who were sniggering at her misfortune, apart from Masako who glared at her resentfully. Even after the Bloodstained Labyrinth case with Vlad the Impaler, while they had come to some understanding, there was still some jealousy on each of their parts.

For Mai it was how Naru always took Masako out on dates but never asked her out and for Masako it was how Naru acted so familiar with Mai but still insisted using suffixes with her name even though she had insisted that he didn't need to.

"Finally the blood can flow to the rest of body," Naru muttered shaking the pins and needles out of his legs, "Your head weighs a tonne," he said slightly louder before getting out of the van.

There was a moment of silence as Lin slid out of the van after Naru and Masako held her sleeve up to her mouth to hide her laughter as Mai stared after her employer in shock. She had nothing to say for a second before all her friends heard her screaming pure murder and Bou-san had to restrain her from charging after and throttling the naive narcissist.

3 days earlier

"Naru," Mai knocked on the door to her boss' office before opening into the shadow lair which Naru apparently preferred. To be honest if Mai had her way, the blinds would be pulled up and the windows open to let in the refreshing breeze inside the very stuffy office. "Naru," she said again to catch her boss' attention away from the map he was looking over.

Still she got no sign of his attention and with a sigh she walked over to his desk. Staring at the map, she frowned as she read the familiar name of the lake her mother used to take her too as a child.

"Are you going on holiday Naru?" she asked as she let her index finger point at the lake while wondering if he would bring back any souvenirs this time, "There's a really nice hotel near there, very homely, I'm sure you'd like it. Me and mum used to go all the time," Mai smiled brightly as she recalled the fond memories, not unaware of Naru's face on hers.

"What's the lake like?" he asked anxiously, his face full of urgent curiosity.

"Oh it's lovely. It's quite large and very deep in the middle. There are small islands just off the side covered in Sakura trees. The sand is golden and soft and the water's a deep blue but when the sun flickers off the surface it's like it turns silver and-"

"Why did you come in here?" Naru asked abruptly interrupting her.

"Oh," Mai paused for a moment, she had totally forgotten her entire reason for disturbing Naru in the first place, "There's a client outside looking for help," Mai paused as she headed out the door before coming back in it and closing it behind her. Client didn't really do enough justice. "I think we should help her, she seems to be very desperate," Mai said thinking back to when the girl had first entered the office nervously.

"Mai, keep your damn views to yourself. If I don't ask for them I don't want them. Now go and do one of the only decent things you can do which is why you're still hired. Make me a cup of tea!"

Mai stared at him slightly shocked for a second at his attitude change. Holding back tears she decided to give him a piece of her mind after the client was gone but until then… she stormed out of the office in a huff, slamming the door behind her and causing the glass to shudder but thankfully stay in its frame.

Naru stared after her; conflicting emotions ran through his eyes as he scrunched up the lake map and tossed it into the bin across from his desk, missing by an inch and adding to his annoyance with himself. He sighed, knowing he had unjustly taken his frustration out on his assistant but he would be damned in hell, and that was probably a possibility, before he said sorry.

Knowing he would have to take his assistant's wrath sometime or other he stepped out into the reception area, his eyes straining slightly at the brightness before he took an interest in the woman sitting on the couch. She turned to face him as he stepped into the front room.

She looked to be around his age and he noticed that her features told of beauty but looking at the girl in a glance, it was hard to see. What should have been lustrous black hair was lank and greasy. Dull green eyes with dark circles underneath reflected a lack of sleep that even Naru, or Lin for that matter, could not hold the trophy for. When Mai had said the girl looked like she needed help she hadn't been joking although Naru had seen worse clients walk through the door. Even so Naru would have felt some pity for her if he weren't in such a fury for yet another failed lake, meaning more time added on to his stay in Japan than was truly necessary.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" he said a little more gruffly than intended. The girl blanched and stared at him with wide eyes, more in shock at his unwelcoming tone than anything else, or his lack of greeting. She gaped at him until Mai came in and Naru mentally berated himself, scaring customers away was not a good idea!

"Are you alright?" Mai smiled gently at the timid girl as she poured her a cup of tea before sitting down opposite her with a clipboard to make notes.

"Not really no, else I wouldn't be here came the soft reply with no hint of sarcasm in her voice before she started her tale, "My younger brother and I lost our mother at a young age and my father remarried but he died of a heart attack. My stepmother was given full custody over us and while she wasn't cruel she didn't radiate love or kindness either. She married and our new father disliked us instantly. Six months ago I returned home to find my little brother at the bottom of the stairs. He was pushed but no evidence was found to prove the guilt of or new father. I'd been planning to run away after I turned eighteen and take Keigo with me but I can't anymore," the girl stifled a sob and Naru held back an exasperated sigh, he really wasn't in the mood for hysterical girls.

"This is a story for the police or even child services, Hinamori-san, not paranormal investigators," Naru commented dryly getting out of his seat as he said it.

"No wait, there's more," the girl said desperately with such a pleading expression that Naru relented and sat back down slowly, "We run a popular B&B and the staff have raised Keigo and me. My brother's been in the coma for the last six months, and five months ago my stepparents joined himfor no apparent reason. If it were just this I wouldn't have bothered you but now our customers are going comatose as well, so many are in hospital now! And the same book keeps popping up in random places where I would never have put it,"

"What's the book?" Naru asked vaguely curious and was surprised when Kimi opened her bag and handed it to him.

The book was worn and the binding coming undone and slightly frayed. It would have once been a bright red book, thick with golden writing on the cover.

Mai stood up slightly as she tried to get a better look at it in Naru's hand. The golden writing wasn't in kanji but instead, the roman alphabet belonging to the English language that she was so desperately trying and failing to learn in school.

_**A Complete Collection of Fairytales**_

"My mother gave it to me before she died. I would normally read a story to Keigo every night before putting him to bed. It was his favourite book," she muttered before staring at him beseechingly, "I know this must not seem to be much of a case to you but I'm scared of seeing shadows out of the corners of my eye and seeing that book popping up everywhere. Please help me,"

Naru pondered for a few minutes. Apart from the book popping up everywhere it didn't really sound like a proper case. The comas could be explained if further investigated, he was sure and the shadows could just be lighting or pure imagination. The father was a case for the police but there was something in the background, he was sure of it and with Mai bound to go into a rampage if he didn't accept he sighed wearily. He had done cases with little to no paranormal activity before and so why not do it again?

"Fine, prepare three rooms for us. Two for bedrooms and one for a base. We'll arrive tomorrow and I'll give this book back to you then,"

Kimi thanked him before gathering up her belongings and smiling gratefully to the two of them, "Thank you, I'll see you tomorrow," she left quickly to prepare for their arrival or to just get out of the office with the evil glaring boss.

"Mai, call the others and get me tea when you're done,"

With a scowl at his impoliteness she sat at her desk and dialled the numbers she knew off by heart. After twenty minutes she got off the phone, happily knowing that everyone was able to make it.

Walking in with his tea she sighed as she saw him reading the fairytale book. Leaning over his shoulder she tried to read the small English writing and failed miserably to understand what it said.

"Hansel and Gretel," Mai tried pronouncing it to see if any understanding would come to her but Mai's English wasn't the best and Naru had repeatedly told her that so it actually sounded like 'Haaansol eind Grieatelle' Naru sighed but decided not to comment, if she couldn't pass her English exams it wasn't his fault. "What is it?" she thought wondering if the Western fairytales were any different to Japanese.

"Pretty much a poor father on the suggestion of his second wife takes his children into the woods to get rid of them. They leave a trail of breadcrumbs which is eaten by birds so the kids wander the forest and come across a candy house owned by a wicked witch who fattens the brother up to eat him and puts the girl to work. They eventually escape by locking the witch in her oven where she burns to death, the kids return home to find that their stepmother has died and they live with their father happily ever after,"

Mai froze in shock before staring at him horrified, "You are joking!" Even the idea of that was horrible.

"Mai, why would I feel the need to joke? Now have you called everyone?"

"Yeah they say tomorrow's fine. But is it really ok to sleep in that inn? I mean, loads of people have gone into comas there for no reason," Mai fretted worriedly, as much as she loved napping, she didn't want to spend the rest of her life doing it.

Naru rolled his eyes without her seeing, she really did worry too much, "We'll just have Ayako make up some charms. Problem solved. Now get out of my office," Naru said, reverting back to his cold demeanour.

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**So what do you's think? **

**Obviously I'll be writing SPR into some of the more well-known fairytales like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, oh and the Three Little Pigs! hehehe But whether I base it on Disney or the original version will have to be seen for each story. and some of the stories will have a little twist to them. **

**But if any of you want to request that I write a certain fairytale I'll try my best to do it but if you could write out which spr member should play which role that would be a help but I may swap roles about if it doesn't suit with how I imagine the tale to go. also if its not a well known story could you send me a link to it. **

**So let the story commence.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Ok, the cameras are all set up and here's the temperature readings," Mai held the charts out to him triumphantly, thinking of the bet she'd made with Bou-san, while Naru stared at her disbelievingly, was she still waiting to get a thank you out of him?

With little effort he swiped the sheets from her upheld her hands and flipped through them as she sulked at his evilness. Marching over to the couch she sat down to rest her aching feet after running all over the house.

"Mai, tea," with a scowl Mai stood up again, wondering why he picked on her and none of the other workers who were lying around lazily apart from Ayako who was making charms for all of the rooms they would be occupying.

With an oncoming headache she stepped into the kitchen while trying her best to ignore the unnatural silence. The house itself was massive and faintly reminded her of the castles she saw in her English textbook. On the outside it appeared that the castle was made of stone but on the inside the floor was made from wood and the walls were smooth with no sign of rock. The whole place gave off an air of comfort and light-heartedness or at least it should have.

But when they had arrived, they discovered that Kimi had closed down the B&B to all tourists. Only the guests that truly lived here were allowed to stay and the staff only came in to keep it clean and cook meals.

Most of the tourists who had stayed, even if only for one night had gone comatose, only Kimi and the regulars had woken up again in the morning. Also a few of the staff members who had recently been hired also failed to wake up from what should have been a brief nap.

"Mai?" Bou-san stepped into the kitchen to find the girl in a daydream, "Naru's beginning to wonder where his tea is!"

With a roll of her eyes she poured the steaming hot water into the cup and dunked in a teabag for a few seconds before fishing it out again.

"And God forbid that his lord should not get his tea," Mai muttered loudly as she stepped out of the kitchen with Bou-san in tow.

"And God forbid that the lady should ever stop complaining," Bou-san said with a smile and ruffled her hair as he walked past to open the base door for her.

In one accounts SPR were lucky in that the base wasn't far from the kitchen so if Mai ever got in trouble while making Naru his tea they wouldn't have to run to far to save her.

But that was where their luck ended. The base was in the centre of the B&B but the girl's and boy's bedrooms were at the opposite ends of the house to each other.

While the comatose people had been brought to the local hospital no one had come to claim their possessions leaving a lot of rooms unavailable for use.

Upon entering the base and handing Naru his tea she noticed that everyone had cleared out apart from Lin and Naru.

"Where did everyone go?" Mai asked as she sat down on the couch.

"Ayako's setting the charms into the rooms and John is taking Masako around the house to see if she can sense anything," Naru said tonelessly before lifting a black book and tossing it at an unprepared Mai. Bringing her hands up to late to protect herself the book landed on her head before luckily falling onto her knees.

"What was that for?" she grumbled rubbing her sore bruised head, "You could have just handed it to me. If you'd bothered to get off your ass…" she mumbled off.

"Mai, it's not my fault that your reflexes are unprecedentedly slow, which given this line of business Mai is not a good thing," Naru said calmly, "Now that's a Japanese translation of the book Kimi gave me and I think that it may have something to do with this case. You're the only one here typically, who doesn't know western fairytales. Surprise, surprise. Now get reading!"

Mai glared at him until he turned his back, then her expression changed to one of puzzlement. Naru had only gotten the fairytale book yesterday and he wasn't likely to be interested enough in the short magical stories to have a Japanese version lying around. Does that mean Naru went and searched for this book just for me? Mai thought, it's not like these books are common and they would have cost a fortune. Mai felt herself blush bright red and clamped her hands to her cheeks ignoring the weird look Bou-san was sending her way. And before he could even open his mouth to make a comment she kicked him hard on the leg.

She fingered the cover lightly before opening the book and started to read, quickly becoming enchanted on every word. Even Naru calling for tea couldn't make her put the book down.

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Mai opened her eyes and saw herself looking down over the B&B, only the walls were translucent and she found herself staring at her body in the base. The book lay closed in her lap where'd she'd left it after finishing all of the stories. Lin worked at the computer whilst casting an occasional glance at the door and then her. His brow creased up in worry as he stared at her and Mai glanced at the clock.

She'd finished reading at two in the afternoon; it was now just past seven. Wondering how it was possible that she could have slept away for five hours when she'd just gained consciousness in her dreams she realised that Naru wasn't in the base and she dashed out of the room in search of him.

She heard running behind her and before she could glance around she saw dream Naru running beside her. He grabbed her hand and diverted her course taking her to the main hall. The doors whizzed past at inhuman speed before they slowed down and Naru pointed up to the top of the stairs.

Slowly looking up she saw a little boy of about ten at the top of the stairs facing a middle-aged man who stared down at him angrily. He began shouting but Mai couldn't hear any words said. He held up a red book and Mai recognised it instantly as it was thrown and fell through the air to land a foot away from her. Naru pointed back up the stairs fro the scene to regain her attention.

The man had grabbed onto the boy's shoulders and was shaking him like a rag doll.

"Stop it," Mai screamed at the man but it made no difference. He whacked the boy on the face and time slowed as the child wobbled dangerously on the landing, his arms waving wildly as he toppled backwards.

The man stared at the boy in shock and grabbed desperately for him but his hand slipped through his fingers. With a cry the boy fell back and time sped up again as he thumped down the stairs to land beside the book which had been thrown moments before.

An uneasy silence filled the hall as the man stared down at the boy before he quickly ran away from view. Mai stared after him angrily, how could he leave a little boy seriously injured on his own?

"Mai," Naru said gently before he pointed to the door where Kimi had just come through. Mai watched as the girl spotted her brother and desperately dialled the emergency service before the vision disappeared, leaving only the boy lying in a twisted position.

"What was the point of that?" Mai asked staring into her boss' face as he stared tenderly down at her. "Naru?" he cupped her cheek gently before fading out abruptly with alarm on his face.

"Get out!" Mai turned to see the boy staring at her angrily, "Leave us alone,"

"Wake up!" Naru yelled in her head waking her up.

Standing in front of her she saw the boy staring up at her solemnly before he pushed her.

Mai waved her hands desperately trying to balance herself like the boy standing before her did six months before. Her foot slipped and she felt gravity pull her downwards as she heard footsteps clambering up the stairs behind her.

_Naaaaruuu!_

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**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter **

**Flamegirl: I've been thinking of Little Red Riding Hood and I'm definitely considering doing it**

**Ariana: Little Red Riding Hood, I don't _think_ I'll do Lin as the wolf for reasons yet to be discovered lol. Another character perhaps???? and thanks for the girl without hands, I just read it and it certainly seems...interesting.**

**Moons-chan: as for how Naru knew the girls name, I realised that half way through writing but I decided it was one of those I'll introduce myself but won't write down introducing myself things if that makes sense. lol **

**Thanks to everyone for da suggestions and the enthusiasm for the story**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Strong arms wrapped around her waist and she felt her back hit someone's shoulder as her foot left the step.

A grunt told her that the man was taking the full brunt of her weight and she felt her cheeks flush. The little boy was nowhere in sight when she next looked while regaining her breath.

"Taniyama-san, are you alright?" the voice was one that she definitely had not bee expecting.

"Lin-san? Ah yes thank you," she said, her face flaming as she realised how close he was. His dark eyes stared into hers for a second and she was surprised to see worry in them before they turned away from her and towards the door which had just opened.

"Naru, there's a slight-" Lin started but was cut off as Naru entered the hallway, and noticed Lin with his arms still around Mai, he raised an eyebrow just as Madoka followed him into the house.

Mai's eyes widened as she saw the lively women she considered a role-model of sorts and in her rush forgot she was on stairs, managed to topple forward before Lin grabbed and righted her again. Smiling gratefully and ignoring his exasperated expression she skipped down the final few steps and ran to hug the purple haired women.

Moving aside and away from the unimportant girl chatter Naru and Lin walked together to base in an uncomfortable silence for the both of them.

"When did she wake up?" Naru questioned as he checked the monitors and charts.

"A few moments ago on the stairs. Naru-"

"She was sleepwalking?" Naru gritted his teeth at the thought. Mai's dreams were bad enough but if she began sleepwalking especially on a dangerous case it could lead to dire consequences.

"I can only assume so for I looked and she was sleeping and the next she was gone. I checked the monitors and saw she was in the main hall. By the time I got there she was halfway up the stairs before waking up and falling backwards," Lin reported swiftly, thinking how troublesome being a babysitter truly was.

"And with Madoka here, she's just going to make matters worse," for me, Naru thought secretly while Lin thought the same thing.

"Mai, what did you see in your dream?" Naru asked as he sat down in his chair. To Lin and Madoka who had known the boy for years, they knew he was tired and annoyed at Mai's newly discovered way of getting into trouble.

To Mai, he just seemed to be his rude normal self.

Huffing she sat down on the couch, arms folded and pouting.

"I dreamt I was here in base but it was a couple of hours later than when I'd fallen asleep," she glanced at the clock to see that it was half seven, "I've no idea what I dreamt beforehand," at this she paused to ponder what she was to say afterwards.

There was no way she was mentioning dream Naru to real Naru. That would be embarrassing so that means I'll also leave out why I ran out of base because he was missing, "I left base on impulse and went to the main hall were I saw a little boy, I think it was Keigo and he got pushed down the stairs by a man who must have been his step-father," Mai paused while the moment replayed, "Then Kimi came in and called the ambulance before fading out. Then Keigo was there telling me to away. I woke up and Keigo was in front of me. He pushed me,"

"That's impossible Taniyama-san," Lin said quietly, "My Shiki didn't sense any spirits when you fell,"

Mai turned to her boss appealingly, "Naru I-"

"Lin's right Mai," Naru almost smirked at the girl's disbelieving face before he gestured her to stand beside him.

She treaded towards him slowly and stared at the footage being played on the thermal monitors before her. She watched herself walk halfway up the staircase with closed eyes before waking up. She watched with bated breath byt no sign of paranormal activity showed up.

"See Mai, you just fell," Naru said almost gently.

"But I didn't! I saw Keigo. He was in front of me, I saw him," she insisted as she stared at the three disbelieving faces and willed them to see that she was speaking the truth.

"Mai, nothing's there," Naru raised his tone with annoyance, "You were probably hallucinating," the words came out more harshly than intended.

"I thought by now you would have trusted me," Mai said heatedly as she clenched her fists and held back tears, "But you haven't changed. You're still an annoying pig-head," rambling on she scowled at him before saying on impulse, "You always lie to me and you do nothing but deceive people. I've had enough!" not able to bear staring at her boss or colleagues' faces for any longer she ran out of the room to find a place of solitude.

"Mai! Wait!" Madoka called after her.

"Leave her be!" Naru snapped, "She'll be back in an hour or so, once she's stopped acting like a child and calmed down,"

"It's not safe to leave her alone," Madoka insisted.

Mai ran off until the voices faded.

A stitch in her side slowed her down and she began to walk instead to get her breath back. She found herself wandering corridors almost in a trance as she walked through a glass door into a conservatory filled with plants.

The aromas were pleasantly comforting and Mai plonked herself beside a sapling and a row of roses.

They're idiots for not believing me, she thought furiously as she hugged her knees to her chest and lay her head on her hands. She yawned sleepily and snuggled warmly against the wall and closed her eyes.

_MAI! Don't fall asleep!_

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**Sorry for the late update, too much homework and studying going on here. lol plus I prefer to handwrite this story so I can write it in frees at school, so it takes extra time to type afterwards. All for the sake of my sanity. And it's the 1st October, where did the first month of school go? We're on a 30 day countdown to Halloween, yay. It should be fun. And what is it now, 12 ir 13 weeks till Christmas. Start your shopping now people. :)**

**Anyway, anyone want to guess as to what is causing people to go into a coma (did I spell that right?)? The answer to this question is already in one of the chapters. **

**Anyway, bye bye or in Ireland right now, Night Night!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm quite sad to say that no one guessed the right cause as to the comas. The most common one seemed to be the little boy and while he may be behind it it wasn't him who caused him. Although the answers in the chapter I just have to say one thing. The poem/song at the start of the story was there for a reason guys. lol**

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****Chapter 4**

Mai felt really warm as she fell from her dreams into a semi-aware state. A feeling of safety overtook her and she felt the need to go back to sleep before restless voices caught her attention.

"We can't hold off much longer. It's been twelve hours since we found her and she won't wake up even with all of our help. Whatever is causing these comas has gotten her. Oliver, she needs the hospital!"

Was that Madoka? Why was she sounding so angry? And who was Oliver? Why do I even care? This has nothing to do with me? She thought sleepily and snuggled back into her pillow and quilt.

"Fine, tell Lin to start the van. I'll bring her down," was that Naru? Why did he sound so unhappy?

Something warm touched her forehead before she felt a sigh by her ear and her body being lifted up by warm arms.

What's Naru doing? Mai thought panicking. Put me down! But he neither heard her voice nor felt her struggle.

_Back to sleep little girl_, a soothing voice muttered and groggily Mai's awareness shut down as her eyes became heavier and heavier.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"Naru what's going on?" Mai questioned her boss worriedly at the blankness around her, so unlike her other dreams she was used to filled with terrifying images most of the time.

"You got caught," Naru said quietly as he looked away into the distance, but at what Mai couldn't tell. His face for once wasn't the happy jovial face she was used to from her dream Naru, but more like the real one than anything else. No laughter was hidden in his eyes and no smile ready to quirk up the corners of his lips.

"By who?" Mai wondered if it was Keigo behind this ordeal. After all he had pushed her down the stairs despite what Naru and Lin said. What did they know, they weren't in her mind when it happened. So they can't possibly tell me I didn't see something that I did, she thought determinately.

"The Sandman. He wanders that inn for people who do not call it home and puts them into a deep slumber. For those who die in that coma, their souls are forfeit to the sandman to do with as he pleases. You were unlucky enough to fall asleep without a charm to ward him off," Naru explained patiently.

"The sandman?" Mai exclaimed sceptically, "But isn't that just folklore? How long have I been out anyway?" she asked with a slight dread. She'd only just become aware again. She could have been out for months.

"Ten days so no need to worry that much. Your friends have been visiting you a lot. Even I've visited up a couple of times," Naru smiled gently for the first time since she'd seen him and she felt a small blush grace her teeth.

"Why are you so different from the real Naru?" Mai asked suddenly the question which had been bothering her for the last while, "Here in my dreams, you're so nice to me but out there you're so…" Mai trailed off trying to find the appropriate word.

"Cold and frozen," Naru suggested with a small smile and Mai had the grace to look embarrassed.

"Mai, I'm different from the outside Naru in more ways than you know. I'll never be like Noll… er Naru," Naru said, covering over the different pronunciation quickly.

"Noll," Mai tried the word on her tongue while Naru looked at her in slight distress. "Why did you say that?" Mai looked at him with a sudden sharpness in her eye, "Why did you say that name differently? And who was Oliver that Madoka was speaking to?" Mai asked suddenly and Naru backed off with a harassed expression on his face.

"You're asking questions you shouldn't be Mai. This information is not meant for you," he warned.

"And is it not the whole point of these dreams to find out information that I should never need to know about. I have a right to know Naru. I know that you're lying to me out there but I don't know about what. I want to know!" Mai said, prowling around him like a big cat ready to kill its prey, "I have a right to know!"

"I can't tell you Mai. I would but it would be unfair to Naru. Now let's get you out of here. I think I can get you awake again," Naru said with a wide grin, quickly changing topics to distract her, "Just listen for a few seconds!"

Listen to what? She wondered but nevertheless did as she was told. At first there was silence but as she shut her eyes and focused she became aware of a beeping noise that sounded too much like a heart monitor for her liking.

Then she heard dull murmurs that turned into voices.

"She'll be fine, besides look at her brainwave activity, it's increased," a bright cheery voice sang, "I bet you she's listening to what we're saying right now!"

"Come on Mai, focus now and feel your surrounding. The crispiness of the sheets, the weight of your body. The light being shone in your eye. The oxygen mask stuck to your face and the needle in your arm," As Mai focused she could feel all these things and more. The smell of disinfectant, the humming of the machines, the coolness on her face compared to the rest of her body. The need for water to run down her throat and the hand holding her own.

"Mai," Naru's voice was further away, "Open your eyes,"

She tried to do it but her eyes were clamped shut. Focusing again, she put all her strength and need into opening them.

At first everything was blurry and muddled before she realised that they were only halfway open.

Mai, Naru's voice was ever fainter, my name is Gene, not Naru.

She opened her eyes fully and blinked them once, then twice.

"Gene," she muttered to herself as she stared at the doorway to see the man, leaning casually against it staring at her whom she had seen only seconds ago. His eyes widened slightly as he registered what she had said before she turned her head slightly to see who was holding her hand.

"Mai?" the voice sounded shocked, surprised, and happy. All of these things the monk portrayed as he squeezed her hand tightly with a smile.

His skin was pale and dark shadows suggested many sleepless nights. He smiled at her before leaving the room quickly leaving her alone with Naru who made no move to come near her. A blonde nurse came in soon after to check the machines before leaving again.

"I called Ayako and the others," Takigawa came back in and dragged the chair closer to her, "They were already heading over here so you just have to wait a few, ok?" Bou-san blabbered on, not realising that she wasn't listening.

"Bou-san," she said croakily before he gave her a glass of water. She lifted it shakily to her mouth and drank happily before handing it back to him, "What's been going on?"

The monk's face lost some joy before he mustered a smile, "I came back to the base to find Madoka in a panic at ten at night. She said you'd been missing for around two hours so we began searching. After an hour we found you in the plant conservatory asleep. We tried waking you up but you wouldn't budge. Kimi said you were in a coma but Naru over there insisted that you were simply dreaming," Mai stared at him for a second before glancing at her boss who didn't seem to be listening to their conversation as he stared moodily out of the hospital window. "After twelve hours we had no choice but to submit you to hospital after Madoka ordered Naru. Since then there's been no more paranormal events so we could only wait uselessly around,"

"Mai!" two squeals were let out at the same time as Ayako and Madoka came running into her room, nearly pouncing on her in desperation to hug her.

Escaping for breath she was surprised to see John comforting Masako who was crying. Mai stared in shock, Masako was crying over her? Lin had wondered in, as quiet as ever when he sat in a chair in the corner out of the way.

Mai turned her head to see Naru turned back in from the window to see the team reunited. She gave him a small smile before turning back to her friends to listen to them exclaiming how happy they were.

* * *

**Answer: The Sandman. Thanks to all who tried lol**

**Anyway can't stand not writing da fairytales so after the next 1 or 2 chaps I swear da tales start. (smiles manically evil) =)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

After a few days in hospital anyone would be bored out of their minds and Mai was no exception as she stared out of the window.

After everyone had calmed down about her awakening she'd fallen back asleep and had apparently caused a stir when she'd failed to wake up until Ayako made a ward for her.

It had been a week and Mai was being released the next day, she couldn't wait.

I wonder what the guys are doing now, she pondered before her mind turned to the one forbidden topic… Gene.

She was confused to put it lightly. Gene was identical to Naru but his name was Eugene Davis and Naru's was Kazuya Shibuya. Maybe they were split up at birth, Mai mused quietly to herself, it would explain their different names… Gene's dead. It was hard to believe the nice Naru from her dreams was a different person entirely and she remembered saying Gene's name when she had first woken and spotted Naru.

Speaking of Naru, he hadn't come to visit her since her return to consciousness. Really and truly what was with that? It was his fault that she got dragged onto cases so the least he could do was visit her when she was injured!

Mai huffed before jumping to her feet, "If no one's going to come and visit then it is upon my shoulder's to entertain myself," she muttered to herself as she stalked stealthily to the door, fantasising herself as a ninja but the need for her stealth skills was to be unfulfilled once she realised the nursing station was empty and scowled to herself, muttering about lack of excitement.

It was strangely quiet within the ward and with as much impulse as curiosity she strode down to the small room at the end of the corridor.

She had first noticed it on one of her previous wanderings but had never been able to investigate before a nurse came along and took her back to her room. But those killjoys aren't here now, she thought with a grin to herself.

She pushed open the door and walked into the mysterious room. Like all the other rooms it was cream coloured with a light blue tiled floor.

A small bed situated in the corner overlooking a beautiful view out the window and the sakura trees caught her attention.

A small outline could be made out over the multitude of blankets as she made her way closer.

Her hand slowly pulled the curtain aside and she was able to glance before realising who it was. Hinamori Keigo looked like he was peacefully sleeping and she couldn't help but smile gently at him as she pushed his hair back from his forehead.

"Keigo-kun, it's nice to meet you in person," she said gently and paused as if waiting for a response, some acknowledgement of her presence but she got none, "I'm Taniyama Mai. You tried to push me down the stairs," Mai paused again, glad that the accusing note had stayed out of her voice, "but I forgive you. No harm done so…" Mai trailed off wondering what to say next and she glanced around for inspiration.

She spotted a small picture on the bedside locker and picked it up as she saw Keigo wrapped in a hug with his sister, "You know, I don't have any parents either," she said soothingly, "They died quite a while ago and I don't have any relatives… but I do have a family, my co-workers. It's kinda dysfunctional as I'm sure you can imagine, but I don't really care.

Bou-san's the dad cause he always protects me and Ayako's the mum because she gives help when I need it, plus she argues with Bou-san a lot, which is what parents do, right? Besides I think they like each other.

Masako… well she's the annoying cousin that everyone wants to avoid apart from John, they seem to hang out together," Mai mused for a second, "John's kinda hard to place, he's kind and caring and gives out a feeling of trust but he's not weak either, more of a brother I suppose and so's Yasuhara, only he's the troublemaker with all his schemes. Lin's the quiet, chilling uncle who scares everyone but we always turn to him when we're in trouble. He doesn't really get much credit for what he does but the attention he gets from Madoka more than makes up for it. Madoka's like the aunt role-model, confident, smart and care-free. That leaves Naru," Mai paused wondering how he fitted in, "He's smart and cares about everyone and kind of protective at times, I'd say he's like an older brother but then being in love with your older brother isn't right. I'd put him as a… close family friend," Mai took a deep breath, "I don't know why I'm telling you this, I suppose I just want you to know that a lack of blood relatives doesn't mean you're lacking a family," Mai stopped after that and stayed in the room for a few more minutes before the silence became unbearable and she left.

She wandered through the corridors, peeping into different rooms she passed by looking for something to do.

Without thought she opened the doors to a large room and froze. Every bed but two were occupied by bodies all connected up to machines to check their vitals.

What made it worse was unlike with Keigo, these people, who Mai knew for certain to be the coma victims, didn't look like they were sleeping. They looked like corpses and Mai felt that she had stepped into a morgue. The thought tat simply a few days ago this was what she must have looked like to her friends made her feel guilty for putting them through so much pain and worry.

Without meaning to she sunk to her knees from despair and felt that slow trickle of salty tears coming from her eyes.

"Mai," it took a few seconds for the voice to register in Mai's head. Naru, his tone for once was gently, "Come on Mai, stand up. You're leaving the hospital with me now," his voice calm and reassuring made her resurface from her unnecessary guilt.

"Naru?" I queried as he lifted me to my feet and guided me through the halls to my room, "Was I going to be put in that room with those other people?" She stared at his face as he looked resolutely ahead. Not knowing why but the question seemed to be important to her and she needed to know it.

He stopped outside her room and without looking at her, "No Mai. I wouldn't let them out you in there. Now go and pack your bag,"

With that he left and she watched him walk away.

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**YAY I got this updated lol. I think that the next chapter will be the last one before the madness begins. I can't wait, so excited lol. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed last chapter**

**lil whit, kikan, iloveme5895, Flamegirl5500, ., DEATHCARNATION, emydo and jgood27 **

**whew, till next update byeeeeeeeee**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

"Tea," came the imperious tone that caused Mai to scowl pointedly at the back of a certain guy's head.

"I'm just out of the hospital. Should it not be you getting me the tea?" Mai said heatedly as she got off the comfy sofa and tailed slowly to the door before marching out.

With Ayako and Bou-san interviewing the residents and John along with Masako trying to find the presence of the Sandman there wasn't anyone to speak to and poor Mai was bored! Lin doing research into the Sandman lore on the Internet and Naru reading books on it, left absolutely no one to talk to.

Bringing the cup of tea back into Naru Mai plonked back down onto the sofa. Lin had gone, and taken his laptop with him. Typical!

"Nee Naru, have you found anything yet?" Mai asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

No reply.

"Are you going to answer me?" Mai gritted her teeth as her eyes bore in to the back of her boss' head.

…

Scowling Mai leapt up and tore the book from his hands, waiting to see his reaction. His eyes met hers momentarily full of irritation but there was something deeper. Before Mai could interpret it, it was gone as he grabbed another book and opened it.

"Are you going to speak to me outside of giving orders?" Mai spat at him, "What have I done to deserve the cold shoulder from you?"

Seconds went by… Naru sighed and shut the book before twirling the computer chair around to face her.

"What do you want me to say?" Naru said, "You know something and you're keeping it from me Mai. I'm not an idiot!"

"And neither am I!" Mai hissed, "All those trips you took, I knew they weren't holidays but you kept insisting they were. Tell me Naru, when were you going to tell me about Eugene?"

Naru's eyes widened slightly and he sat back in his chair, hands pressed to his face. Mai jumped back startled, she hadn't expected so much expression to cross Naru's face.

Mai's eyes widened slightly as something hit her, "You weren't coming back. As soon as you found him, you were going to leave… without saying goodbye?" Mai froze as the realisation hit her. Did he not care what his departure would have done to her? To the team? Her family would have fallen to pieces and she'd be on her own again. Just her against the world.

She stared at Naru as she saw him sigh slightly before looking up at her, "I swore to myself I'd return home with Gene's body. If I were to say goodbye to SPR, I don't think I'd be able to leave," Naru uncovered his face and stood up, staring down into Mai's face, "I tried not to get attached Mai," Mai's eyes widened at the small smile on his face and the gently expression on his face as he raised his hand to tuck a strand of lose hair behind her ear, she froze for a second, it was almost like it was Gene standing in front of her instead of Naru, "but everyone grew on me in the end, …you most of all,"

"Naru," Mai started to back away but Naru hurriedly grabbed her wrist.

"Hear me out. I've only got three little words to say to you, well they're not so little, kinda big actually," Naru said quickly and Mai could see a sheen of sweat above his brow.

"Are you ok Naru? You're looking flustered," Mai naively was unaware of what Naru was trying to tell her and brushed her hand against his forehead. He shivered and leaned back slightly.

"Mai, all I want to say is I-" Naru was cut short as the door was abruptly opened by Takigawa.

The monk didn't notice the close stance between his friends or how Naru abruptly stepped back from Mai and picked up a small black boring little book, all courtesy of Ayako who was unsurprisingly whacking him over the head repeatedly with her hand.

"Naru, Mai-chan, save me," the monk cried playfully as he ducked Ayako's swinging fist and ran for cover, namely hiding behind Mai.

"Bou-san, I'm not getting involved in this," Mai said as she tried to duck out from between the warring monk and priestess.

"This is not a playroom, Takigawa-san," Naru said frostily, "And both of you are distracting my assistant," Naru's eyebrow twitched as the pair ignored him and Mai simply shrugged helplessly as she watched him leave the room, and released a sigh.

"Bou-san, Ayako, I think its time you two went to bed," Mai said as she pushed them out of the base room with a sigh before shutting the door behind them.

Mai's eyes flashed open from her dreamless sleep. She didn't know what was more worrisome, that she hadn't a dream or something that wasn't her alarm clock woke her up. Mai wasn't one of those people who randomly awakened; she woke up for a reason, whether it be her alarm or Naru calling for tea.

The breathing of her two roommates calmed her slightly, they would have woken up of they sensed anything. She flumped up her pillow and shifted onto her other side.

…creak…

Mai bolted upright as she heard someone walk past the door to her room. She bit her lip with indecision, she knew she should wake Ayako or Masako to tell her she was going to investigate but then they'd want to come along which would cause too much hassle and she knew she'd probably not be able to investigate properly with them jabbering in her ear.

Getting slowly out of bed she winced as the springs creaked but neither girl stirred. She tiptoed to the door and left the room shutting the door behind her slowly.

"Lin-san?" she stared at the Chinese man who was at the end of the hall, "What are you doing here?"

Lin turned around to face her, "Taniyama-san," he said with a sigh, "Sorry if I woke you,"

_More like 'Damn, she's awake, now I have to talk to her'_ Mai thought to herself as she approached the man, pulling her dressing gown more closely around herself.

"It's alright, you're a bit out of your way here," Mai stated, wanting an answer as to why he was by the girl's rooms.

"There was a temperature fluctuation, Shibuya-san asked me to check it out," Lin said as he started to head back to base.

"More like ordered," Mai muttered to herself before shaking her head. "So nothing interesting happened?"

Silence. Mai huffed to herself silently. Why was she always the one stuck in awkward situations?

They reached base in a matter of minutes and Mai felt herself relax slightly, _that's funny, I never knew I was tense, _she swallowed slightly before sitting down on the couch.

Naru was at the monitors, he didn't even bother to turn around and greet her, not that she expected it.

She sank onto the sofa and glanced over at the clock. Midnight exactly. Mai stared at the clock, there was something tickling at the edge of her memory, something about midnight…

"Naru!" Lin shouted out and Mai turned abruptly to see the tall man collapse to the floor.

"Lin-san!" Mai jumped up and raced towards him.

"Mai, stop!" Mai so used to obeying Naru's commands stopped before her thoughts could even think as to why she should.

"Naru!" Mai said scolding, "He needs help,"

Mai turned back to look desperately at Lin and jumped back in surprise. An old man stood before her, wearing a sandy brown suit. He had a long white beard and a white sleeping hat on top of his head. Beneath his eyes were dark circles and as he inched closer to Mai he grinned to reveal yellowing teeth.

"Naru…" Mai whimpered as she tried to back off but found herself unable to.

"Mai, what's wrong?" the teenage asked coolly as he stared at his frightened assistant.

Unable to speak Mai watched as the man reached for a small brown bad at his waist. His claw like fingers dragged out a sand coloured powder and blew it in his face.

It caught in her eyes, went up her nose and down the back of her throat, causing her to cough violently as she collapsed to the floor.

"Mai!"

_My body, it feels like deadweight._ Mai thought as her breathing slowed_ And my eyes are so heavy. I'll just take a little…nap._

_

* * *

_

**Ok don't kill me guys. I know I haven't updated in a month, awfully sorry. On the plus side I'll send you all some christmas mince pies ;)**

**Well I'm in the middle of mock exams, have got a cold and can you believe it, it SNOWED, I know total awesomeness!!!!!!!!**

**Ok, if I don't get updated in a while I wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR**

**OH!!!! BTW THE MADNESS STARTS NEXT CHAPTER**

**STARTING WITH....**

**Duh duh duh**

**THE THREE LITTLE PIGS oink oink lol guess who**


	7. Chapter 7: Three little Pigs p1

**Chapter 7: The Three little pigs**

Lin awoke with an almighty headache as he stared at the bright clear blue sky above him. Bright blue sky? It was meant to be raining. Why was there so much sun? Groaning he shifted onto his side and closed his eyes before opening them in alarm.

He was meant to be in the base. Naru was going to kill him when he got back. Propping himself into a sitting position he stared around him. Blinked twice before pushing his hair out of the way.

Hallucination _did_ occur to him and so did having a very weird dream as he saw Naru a metre away wearing a red and pink checked shirt underneath dungarees and well boots. Beside him was a non SPR member who he vaguely remembered seeing in one of the comatose files, dressed similarly.

Filled with dread at what he was about to see he looked down before collapsing back onto the grass. Yellow and pink, why? Why couldn't he at least have white and black, even brown would do!

"Two, I think Three's awake," came a very irritating drawl.

"Naru, why am I dressed like a cudgie?" Lin did his best to repress his annoyance, "Where are we?" that seemed to be the more important question.

"One, you did say that you checked him for brain damage?" Naru stated calmly as he checked another blueprint before making an adjustment with a pencil.

"Yup, sure did Two!" the guy stated cheerily as he hefted up a plank of wood and began carrying it off.

Standing up and dusting himself down Lin walked over to Naru with an annoyed frown taken control of his face, "Oliver, what is going on?" Lin spluttered out. This was the most peculiar situation he had ever found himself in.

"Oliver?" Naru stared at him in genuine confusion, "My name is Two Pig. He's our brother One Pig," Naru waved offhandedly, "One really did give you a knock over the head. And what we're going? Quite simple, we're building a proper house for Ms what's her name, who lives in a shoe with her children, with wood and other materials we bought from our supplier,"

"What's the other materials?" Lin asked with resignation.

"Well apart from the wood, that would be straw for the roof and stone for the foundations," Naru said with an annoyed expression on his face, most likely at having to explain himself to his underling of a brother, "There's our supplier coming with our next batch of wood," Naru replied bored.

In slow motion Lin turned to see a familiar pair of glasses on a young man sitting on a horse pulled cart.

"Yasuhara?" Lin asked bewildered, perhaps the sly quick-witted man could tell him as to why they were cosplaying the 'Three Little Pigs'.

"Did Three get whacked on the head again?" Yasuhara asked, completely ignoring Lin while he handed sheets of paper to Naru and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"What do you think?" Naru replied dryly as read through the papers before signing, "Three go and unload the cart," Naru ordered without a glance in his direction.

Lin contemplated telling his boss to unload the damn cart himself before he dropped the idea. The kid would probably go running home to mummy. Wandering over to the cart in confusion Lin happened to glance down to meet the eyes of a massive grey dog, Irish wolfhound.

Jumping back and accidentally dropping the plank of wood that he'd picked up on his foot he just about managed to stem the profanities.

"Just as clumsy as ever," a menacing voice said behind him, making him whirl around.

The man in front of him was radiating an aura of evil with dark eyes, unshaven face and uncut hair.

"Where's your brother?" Thinking that he couldn't possibly mean One Lin warily pointed to Naru, wondering if it was such a good idea to let this man anywhere near his charge. Especially when Kimi thought it was this man, her step-father who had pushed her little brother down the stairs.

Grabbing the wolfhound's leash as he walked past, Tenshi dragged the dog over to Yasuhara and handed him a bag of coins before the supplier ran away back to his cart and urged his horse into a gallop.

Eyebrows raised Lin approached the man carefully from behind as he listened into the conversation.

"Two, give me my money!" Tenshi growled threateningly.

"I don't have it, I already told you it's tied up in investments," Naru shrugged which irritated the man further.

"I told you if you didn't give me my money, I would track you and your brothers down and kill you," he said seriously as he stood up straight.

"Really?" Naru said antagonising the man, "I thought you were just joking," the boy replied and Lin would have slapped his hand to his forehead, only the situation didn't require it.

"Why you little," the man growled as he reached down to the dagger at his belt. Before he could grab it Lin's fist came in contact with his head throwing the man off balance.

"One, run!" Naru yelled as he leaped to his feet and pelted into the woods. Glancing after him and then the other man Lin had just enough time to duck as metal whistling over his head could be heard.

Thinking quickly he ran over to the planks of wood but not before landing another punch. Grabbing a small plank or rather a very big stick he crouched behind the cart and waited trying to calm his breathing.

The pounding of unsteady footsteps could be heard getting ever closer as Lin tightened his grip on the wood. Taking a deep breath he waited until the man had just passed him before he stood up, bringing the plank back and with a resound whack the stick crashed as it came in contact with the man's hard skull.

Dropping the stick immediately Lin took a moment to recollect himself.

Opening his eyes again he desperately tried to remember which direction Naru had run in. When he caught up to his charge, they'd go and find the other man. First and foremost he had to find Naru.

Starting off in the direction he was positive Naru had run in he kept up a relentless pace which breathing evenly.

He didn't like these woods.

Since it was winter he wasn't surprised that the leaves were decomposing on the ground, giving off a damp earth smell. What did surprise him was the darkness in the woods compared to when he had first woken up with the sun shining. Now it was practically pitch black and the sky, overcast.

It sent shivers down his spine and the feeling of being watched was present.

The roots of the tree seemed to trip him up at every step he took, but if it was his imagination or not, it was impossible to tell. Not with his senses on high alert like this.

He stumbled around, falling once or twice and emerged from the woods with scuffed shoes, grass stains, a cut on his face, leaf and twig filled hair and a very dented pride.

The light was greatly welcomed as it hitt off the yellow golden field of straw before him. Bales of it positioned at the edge.

Taking a glance at what he was seeing he ducked behind a tree. Honestly, it should take a while to recover from a stick to the head but not Kimi's stepfather Tenshi was driving a digger and lifting up bales of straw and taking them over to a giant shredder. A giant shredder? Lin did a double check, yep the great big hulking metal thing certainly did not look friendly with the whirring blades and the little shoot on the other side that tossed at the shredded material. But why was Tenshi shredding straw and laughing manically?

With a sickening revolution Lin noticed a green and pink checked material within the straw bale and then a brown mop of hair. His and One's eyes met for a second and the terror and revulsion they saw in the others eyes was plain to see.

Laughing Tenshi used the controls to lower and tip the bales of straw into the blender.

With a sickening crunch the machines grinded to a halt as the blade became stuck before it began to twirl around again after a stomach-churning noise.

Coming out on the other side was red dyed straw along with spurts of blood covering the pile of shredded straw. Lin was tempted to spew up his guts as he watched the final remains get doused with petrol and set alight.

This fairytale story was twisted and definitely not the kind kids read before they went to bed at night. Tenshi stared at the flames almost hypnotised by them. His expression was horrible and twisted and Lin felt tempted to go down and kill the barbarian but he had to find Naru.

* * *

**em... ok. Personally I don't think this chapter was bad but if anyone finds it kinda gorrey don't hesitate to tell me. The rest of the chapters won't be as bad as this one. So did everyone have a nice christmas? Mine wasn't bad, and can I just say I LOVE SANTA CLAUSE lmao, pity he wasn't fifter years younger, slimmer and minus the grey hair and beard. He might just be dateable! ok pure randomness lol till next time, gudbye **


	8. Author Note

Hey everyone,

I know it's been a while since I updated all of my stories and this is a general notice for all of them, I HAVE NOT STOPPED WRITING THESE STORIES NOR HAVE I LOST THE PLOT LINE. With my exams coming up in less than three weeks and some major studying needing done I simply don't have time to type them up at the moment. My last exam is on the 17th June, and I will begin updating again after that, pinky promise XD.

Thanks for your continued support,

Blackwitchkarma


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